Mar 18, 2009

Miss Maisie before leaving for Papa and Gogo's on Wed. to sign papers on the offer on our house!!!!!

Whoa. Are WE READY FOR THIS!

Maisie doesn't appreciate having her hair washed. Or brushed. Or dried. But she does want "long hair like Momma's". How sweet! (considering I don't even like mine!) So we have to remind her every time she needs it washed or brushed or dried that she has to let us fix her hair, or she has to keep it short and not have long hair like mine. She has found some barrettes that Nana gave her, and she'll ask me to put them in her hair. Although they don't generally stay in for more than a few minutes, and I'll find them around the house in random places. Like on the floor in her brother's room! So she went with Gogo this month to have her hair trimmed...she has a ways to go before it is "long".

Mar 17, 2009

So this has to be my new specialty. Walnut Cake. Considering I still have 2 3/4 garbage cans full of walnuts from last fall....this cake uses a full pound of them, not including any on the top! :) It's pretty good, too. This one I mistakenly made in a bundt pan, which I won't do again-some of it stuck to the top, so I had to put it upside down on the platter. But it still tasted great! I took it to Mops, as it was my group's week for providing snacks.

Mar 16, 2009

And today, we had SMILES! And plenty of them! I first got a few during church, no one saw them but me! Then after we came in from wandering around outside this afternoon, he was laying on Greg's lap, responding to Greg's voice. How cute!

I just have to mention the other excitement of the evening. We all got ready for bed a little early tonight, were planning to have a popcorn and movie night. Greg informed me there is no more popcorn, so we had to resort to microwave. Greg took Calvin back to change his pants and put his jammies on him, and I threw a bag into the micro and put it on for 5 minutes--our micro in the Gig house took SEVEN to complete a bag! Then Greg yelled my name. He was standing over Calvin at the changing table--Calvin had totally decimated his diaper! So I grabbed the whole thing and took it to the laundry room to hose it off. Headed back to the kitchen, and Greg yelled my name again! Calvin had peed all over himself while Greg was debating how to clean up the mess, including his FACE! I started to mop off the baby, and decided he just needed a whole bath. So off we went--all four of us!--to the bathroom. When we emerged, smoke filled the kitchen. YIKES! Greg had the baby, so I ran to the kitchen, yanked out the smoldering bag, and started opening windows. Which doesn't help in the slightest.

Doggone microwave popcorn. Yuck.

Mar 15, 2009

Another night night shot. Without the maggi this time. :)

Mar 13, 2009

Baby baby--ready for night night.

Mar 12, 2009

Happy Birthday, Mom!

We had dinner here for Mom's birthday, I made angel food cake for the first time ever. Maisie helped make the frosting, but she was mostly interested in licking the bowl. I heard the word "lick" about 1,000 times before I actually gave up and handed over the bowl and the spatula! I wanna lick the bowl, Mom. Can I lick the spatula? Can I lick the beaters? MOM, when are you gonna be done so I can LICK THAT? Can I lick THAT? (points to the cake plate, where I had spilled the tiniest droplet of icing) Can I have a little lick right NOW? MOM, when can I lick the bowl???

She wasn't convinced you actually need to finish frosting the cake before licking the EVERYTHING!

Mar 11, 2009

Ahhh...some more suns. :)

Maisie had an awesome swim lesson today, but it's not easy to take pictures there, so I skipped it. I'll just talk about it.

She was first into the water. She stayed in the water nearly the WHOLE time! She didn't have to be coerced into putting her head in the water, she did so willingly! On the way home she said, "One of the kids didn't want to do a head bob." I asked what a head bob is and she told me, "Put my head under the water!" Duh, Mom! She floated on her back. After instruction from her teacher, she did the backstroke! WOW! Good job Maisie!!

Mar 10, 2009

Calvin is two months old! Yep, I'm two days late, but he was in a grouchy mood yesterday when I was ready to take the picture, and even THAT was a day late! And I couldn't get a good one today that didn't have his arm across the sign! Still haven't found Hobbes. The rhino may have to do...

Mar 9, 2009

Snow AGAIN! Yikes! What a weird day. It snowed twice, and the sun came out right afterward both times.

This was taken shortly after the huge snowflakes stopped falling the second time. Dad was working in the playroom, and I caught a glimpse of the wind machine in the orchard--the white middle part of the arms just about disappeared in the clouds behind it, I just thought it looked really cool. If you don't look too carefully you can't tell that I fiddled with this picture. :)

Mar 8, 2009

Calvin is two months old! Here he is with Great Gramma 'Raine. She just got home from California today. Greg and I went to a play with her in Soap Lake (we both independently decided we want to try out for one someday!) and Papa and Gogo babysat for us. Gramma and Greg and I came back for dessert and coffee before we went home, and Calvin got some "Great time". :) Maisie tried to wear out Gogo's new ottoman by sliding over it like a snake.

Mar 7, 2009

"Nice teddy bear,
I love the teddy bear,
Nice teddy bear,
love the teddy bear,
SMASH!"

Peals of laughter were coming from the dining room, Calvin and I came in to see what was going on...those playdough teddy bears again. Getting fmashed. One by one. First the song. Then the fmash. :)

Mar 6, 2009

Ahhhh...spring.

Or in Maisie-speak: fpring.

We went outside today, only lasted about 1/2 hour, since it's still only 37 degrees out. Argh! I'm soooo ready. C'mon, warmer weather! We wandered around the yard for a while, looking at the plants that are coming up, and stepping in mud. Maisie is intrigued by the ag-cats, flying around spraying right now. We kicked the soccer ball around a bit--she's surprisingly good at it! I may be sore tomorrow, I ran about 3/4 of the lenghth of the yard and back, dribbling the soccer ball. More exercise than I've gotten in a year!

Mar 5, 2009

Calvin visits with Great Grandma Dena.

My Grandma lives about 4 miles from us now, and she LOVES to have her great grandkids visit her. So sometimes after we drop Maisie off at pre-school, Calvin and I will stop by and visit with Grandma. Last time we saw her, she mentioned she was out of walnuts, and could she have some of ours? We still have 3 garbage cans nearly full, and are happy to dole them out to whomever can use them! So I filled a bag before we left this morning, and Calvin and I dropped in on her for a little visit. This time, Calvin was awake! Last time he slept the whole time!

Mar 4, 2009

Why is diaper laundry so much less annoying than regular laundry? This happens to be the only picture I took today...interesting that we attended our first water association meeting today. And while I am proud to use cloth diapers because we contribute that much less waste to landfills, I now wonder about how much water I use to wash them...they take a LOT of rinsing to make sure I have all the detergent out. Our association president made a comment about 2/3 of the members not going over the allotted amount of water each month. I'll be interested to know if we fall into that category or not-with the cloth diaper washing, my OCD showering tendencies and the jungle outside that needs to be watered.

I don't know if cloth diapering, gardening and recycling makes me the crunchy green granola hippie I am in my head.

Mar 3, 2009

I seem to catch a lot of pictures of Calvin sleeping...what a sweetie.

Mar 2, 2009

Ahhhh....the end of a beautiful day....or NOT. While I was feeding Calvin this morning, Maisie rediscovered the bottle of glitter that she and Greg had been using last night to work on her chart. She poured piles onto the floor in the sunroom. And the living room. And onto Greg's desk, and his chair.

I vacuumed with my vacuum cleaner and my Mom's. I swept with my broom. When Greg got home, he and Maisie swept with THEIR brooms. And then Greg used the tile cleaner. And there is STILL glitter on my floor.

Maisie spent a good deal of the morning in her room.

Mar 1 2009

Getting ready to watch the Incredibles...

I went to see Oklahoma this afternoon with Mom and Dad, it was good, and so nice to get out and DO something besides study!!

Feb 28, 2009

Only in my nightmares....

Feb 27, 2009

Maisie was BUSY today! She played with Papa while I did my final big study day. She came inside and couldn't even stay away from the computer paint game long enough to take off her coat! She's a GENIUS on the computer. She can find anything, open all windows and programs--ditch the wallpaper...little turkey.

Feb 26, 2009

Looking north up the orchard.

Feb 25, 2009





















You are my sunshine!

Feb 24, 2009

Maisie and Papa made SEVENTEEN playdough turtles! and one elephant.

This would be several hours before Maisie stepped on some of my artwork that wasn't yet on our wall and put a big gash in her foot. Three stitches worth. OUCH.

Feb 23, 2009

Back to the sun.

Maybe I should just start calling it my plea to Helios. Cry to Mother Nature? I'm REALLY ready for spring, here.

This vase came from Mexico--I bought it on our honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas.

Feb 22, 2009

Mom and Calvin and I spent the whole day on the road and in Gig Harbor at an open house. At the last minute, we decided to eat in Ellensburg, and so we called Jodi, and she and the kids met us at the restaurant so Calvin could meet them. He, of course, mostly slept and ate and yelled because he needed his pants changed.

Challenging diaper changes at the restaurant--the changing table was at an angle, Calvin nearly slid of and into the sink! Yikes.

Feb 21, 2009

I'm SUCH a cheater! Mom took this one! She brought her camera to Vanessa's baby shower, and took pictures of the boys' first playdate! They weren't too impressed. This is the only picture with Calvin's eyes open and his mouth not screaming!

Lean left, boys!

Calvin and Baron

Feb 20, 2009

Is it cheating if I didn't take the picture myself? My Dad is responsible for this one. I was feeding Calvin, and Dad was able to grab his camera fast enough to catch this. Maisie thought it was pretty cool that Gogo was sitting in the big rocking chair sideways with her feet up. So she dragged the Maisie-sized rocking chair over beside her and sat just like Gogo! :)

Feb 19, 2009

This little boy is always cute, but he is NOT always happy! We LOVE these jammies from Maisie's Godparents, Jay and Susie. Calvin was mad because his diaper was recently changed.

He's angry when it's poopy.
He's angry when it's off.

Feb 18, 2009

My latest bright idea: A study of suns.

I thought I was going to take a picture of one every day and put them all in order, but as it turns out...I have other cute things to take pictures of. I think I'll still try to capture each one that I have, but won't do them every day until I've done them all. That *might* be a little boring.

This is one that I found in Venice. Many of the suns in my collection are one of a pair--sun and moon. In this pair, the moon IS actually cuter. It's hugging a drama mask...alas...this is a SUN STUDY. So I won't be photographing it. Until I run out of ideas again.

There might be a moon study yet!

Feb 17, 2009

It's SPRING!!!!! No. No it's not. It's still February. It may have only been 45 degrees today, but we were so thrilled that the sun was shining and we didn't have to wear snowsuits while we played outside!! It was a pretty day! And Maisie learned to climb the willow tree! Ok, it's just a stump. But it used to be the willow tree that my cousins and I climbed when we were little, and I believe my Mom also climbed it when SHE was little. Maisie mastered it. She must have climbed up it 6 times!!

Feb 16 2009

I'm not sure what Maisie was doing to Calvin in this picture, but it sure looks like he was worried about it!

Feb 15, 2009

My sweet boy snoozing on his Daddy...

Feb 14, 2009

As promised earlier...the true state of my nightstand. We have the usual suspects-lamp, alarm clock, chapstick, hair clip assortment, book, water bottle, pens. Then there's yesterdays coffee cup, two diapers and a change of clothes for Calvin, who has taken to soaking through his nighttime dipe.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Feb 13, 2009

Spent a long day at Mom and Dad's studying, so there weren't many photo ops. Nor did I take my camera just in case there were...

So here I am. Taking another picture on the Mac. Big cheater. :) Bathed, baby on lap, ready to hit the high points again. Or maybe the low points are the ones I'm looking for--gonna go GET those answers I missed on the practice exam.

Feb 12, 2009

Legs revisited. Maisie HAD to know what Papa was doing up there that was so interesting. She was SO excited to go up into the attic with Papa!

Feb 11, 2009

Calvin.

Trying to stay awake after a marathon feeding, and screaming hysterically all the way from Papa and Gogo's house to ours...

Feb 10, 2009

Maisie.

Working diligently on Valentines for her classmates. I'll be mopping up glitter for MONTHS...

Feb 9, 2009

Dad's legs.

Just another old house quirk...several of our light switches don't work. Sometimes. Sometimes they do...my Dad has taken on the challenge of fixing them. Unfortunately, it requires a trip up here...he has to wiggle into the cabinet, and get his upper body into the attic. No more pie until this project is done, Dad!

Feb 8, 2009

Calvin is in there! And he was for about 3 hours....snoozing. All through dinner preparation, dining, and dishes! I finally extracted him to change his diaper, but he was still completely out!

Feb 7 2009

Quick shot from the Mac of my little man...

Feb 6, 2009

Aaahhhh...studying real estate. Maybe I should have taken a close up of my calculator, since that was the order of the day. Ugh. Still hate math after all these years.

Feb 5, 2009

So, the first picture I took tonight was of my night stand and what is on it. This book included. Number seven in a series. Duh. But...it's not really representative of what's usually on my night stand... Usually in addition to the alarm clock and the lamp, there is a water bottle, a hair clip, baby wipes, a spare diaper, and a burp cloth. Sometimes my cell phone lives there. So today-just a picture of my current read. Another time I'll do a true study of my nightstand.

Feb 4, 2009

Hey look! Maisie is eating popcorn and watching "The Incredibles". Through her eyelids!

Feb 3, 2009

Ode to the USPS. Never buy a roll of 100 stamps because you never know when the post office is going to up the rates. Note to self: Buy more one cent stamps.

Feb 2, 2009

Game day at the condo! Spanish Train Dominoes, house rules. Dad skunked us. I had one of my worst scores ever, I think. Yikes.

Feb 1, 2009

Snoozy Calvin.

Jan 31, 2009

Baby feet and toddler feet...

Jan 30, 2009

Three generations of feet on the dash. On our way to Arrow Point for a weekend of R&R.

Jan 29, 2009

Breakfast time for the Maise...

Jan 28, 2009

Calvin wide awake....Daddy not so much.

Jan 27, 2009

Calvin, fresh from a sink bath, and Daddy.

Jan 26

Jan 25